Intel’s Nervana Attacks GPUsNews & Analysis 11/17/2016 5 commentsIntel will ship AI accelerators from Nervana next year as part of a broad machine learning strategy that is still waiting on its acquisition of Movidius to close.

ST's Bozotti on 'Back-to-Silicon' DifferentiationNews & Analysis 11/17/2016 Post a commentCarlo Bozotti, CEO of STMicroelectronics NV, has presided over a difficult period in the chip company's history as he first put together the ST-Ericsson mobile processors joint venture and then had to engineer ST's exit from what had became an ill-fated project. But now the write-offs, reorganizations and product phase outs are just about behind the company and it is starting to resume growth. EE Times Europe interviewed Bozotti at a bustling Electronica in Munich.

Parc: IoT To Be Self-Powered, Flexible, TransparentNews & Analysis 11/17/2016 Post a commentThe inventors of the graphical user interface (GUI), the computer mouse, the computer "desktop," object-oriented programming and amorphous silicon, among dozens of other forecasted breakthroughs, predicted that the future of the Internet of Things will be flexible, transparent and self-powering, according to Parc program manager of novel and printed electronics, Janos Veres at the MEMS Executive Congress 2016 (Scottsdale, Arizona.

3D Printed Buses HereNews & Analysis 11/16/2016 8 commentsLocal Motors has been a solution looking for a problem since its inception, but may have finally hit the nail on the head with its Olli substitute for traditional transit systems at just 20% of their cost, but with more convenience, faster times and free-ride driverless capabilities.

Qualcomm Boss Brainstorms on 5GNews & Analysis 11/16/2016 Post a commentIn 2008, Paul Jacobs as CEO of Qualcomm worked with HTC CEO Peter Chou to make the world’s first Android smartphone. Last week, Jacobs, as executive chairman of Qualcomm, and Chou, now chairman of Digital Domain Holdings, swapped ideas on the future of 5G.

U.S. Analog IP Startup Partners with MegachipsNews & Analysis 11/16/2016 Post a commentAt a time when analog components are consuming an increasingly big fraction of system power budget, Omni Design, a Calif.-based startup, has developed ultra-low power analog and mixed-signal IP cores primarily for use in complex SoCs.

Startup Programs Multicores on Data, Not GutNews & Analysis 11/16/2016 1 commentSilexica's engineering team spent more than a decade in multicore software design automation for complex, multicore platforms, before it was spun off from RWTH Aachen University. The startup offers tools both for multicore SoC developers and hardware/software system architects.

Intel Preps its AI StrategyNews & Analysis 11/15/2016 3 commentsIntel will lay out what one rival said may be a bet the company” strategy on AI this week, spanning Xeon, FPGA, Movidius processors and more.

DSRC’s ‘Dead End,’ Says Qualcomm ExecNews & Analysis 11/15/2016 5 commentsAs carmakers learn more about highly automated vehicles, they no longer dismiss the idea of V2X. But the radio war between DSC and LTE camps continues. Qualcomm’s takeover of NXP isn’t making the path to V2X any clearer.

Xilinx to Dive in Hyperscale Race News & Analysis 11/14/2016 Post a commentXilinx is pursuing Altera (Intel), who took an early lead in the hyperscale computing by getting designed into Microsoft’s hyperscale acceleration fabric. Xilinx also goes after the inference side of machine learning where it believes it can beat Nvidia.

AT&T: SIMs are Key to IoT FutureNews & Analysis 11/14/2016 Post a commentAT&T pronounced the Internet of Things (IoT) as already here in massive enough numbers to make it a sure thing for all future devices, but in need of tools it is providing like its "flow designer."

Chip Veterans Scan HorizonNews & Analysis 11/11/2016 3 commentsThree industry veterans gave their views of the semiconductor sector’s future at an event where ASML promised a system to advance chip scaling.

Rohde & Schwarz Show Test System for Remote Keyless Entry SystemsNews & Analysis 11/11/2016 Post a commentAt electronica 2016, Rohde & Schwarz is presenting a universal solution for testing vehicle keys and the associated electronic control units with their various wireless technologies. Thanks to the modular and scalable approach, the test system can be used to test at the printed board and device level in all product phases -- from development to product qualification to mass production.

Coating Stops Exploding BatteriesNews & Analysis 11/10/2016 7 commentsForge Nano says its nano coatings boost the thermal breakdown voltage of Li-Ion batteries by 120 Fahrenheit, thereby keeping them from exploding in all ambient conditions short of exposing them into an already burning fire.

Supercomputer Aims for ExascaleNews & Analysis 11/10/2016 Post a commentU.S. researchers announced $34 million in software projects as part of their plan to build exascale supercomputers that may include new memory and programming technologies.

SMIC Expects Record Roll to ContinueNews & Analysis 11/10/2016 Post a commentSemiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China’s largest foundry, predicts that sales in the current quarter will rise as much as 7 percent from the record $774.8 million in revenue it posted during the July to September period this year.

Where Are We with Thread IoT?News & Analysis 11/9/2016 1 commentWhere are we now with Thread networking protocol-based IoT products? Connected thermostats, door locks, tooth brushes, alarm systems, lighting, you name it. What’s happening? How significant are the updates embedded in the 1.1 spec?

NXP Drives Truck PlatooningNews & Analysis 11/7/2016 4 commentsNXP believes there’s no better place than truck “platooning” to demonstrate the merits of autonomous driving, as it can showcase its latest advances in autonomous technology in a realistic application.

Comma.ai Fiasco Leaves None UnscathedNews & Analysis 11/3/2016 12 commentsThe comma.ai incident exposes the contentious intersection between Silicon Valley companies with untested technologies and established carmakers who may have already won the trust of regulators. The hitch is that these old-line companies now also have untested autonomous-driving technologies.

ASML Invests $1.9B in Next-Gen EUVNews & Analysis 11/3/2016 3 commentsASML will spend a total of about $1.9 billion on a collaboration with Zeiss to build next-generation optics for extreme ultraviolet lithography systems

SMIC to Build South China’s First 12-Inch FabNews & Analysis 11/3/2016 Post a commentSemiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s largest foundry, said it is proceeding with plans to build South China’s first 12-inch fab at an existing facility in the city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.

Hock Tan Carves Up BrocadeNews & Analysis 11/2/2016 1 commentBroadcom bid $5.9 billion for Brocade in a deal that carves up Fiber Channel and Ethernet parts of the systems company.

Anticipating a More Virtual Moore’s LawNews & Analysis 11/2/2016 5 commentsNicky Lu, executive director of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, anticipates the coming era of a “virtual” Moore’s Law. InFO and through interconnect via (TIV) will play key roles in a resumption of growth the chip industry, he said.

Microsoft Speeds Open HardwareNews & Analysis 11/1/2016 2 commentsMicrosoft revealed early specs of ts next-generation data center server and said work on open hardware needs to become as fast and flexible as open source software.

Intel, Qualcomm Head for Car ClashNews & Analysis 11/1/2016 1 commentAs Qualcomm, after its NXP takeover, becomes a $35 billion behemoth and morphs into the world’s largest automotive chip vendor, expect rivalry between Qualcomm vs. Intel to escalate.
The two giants will lock horns in fast-moving highly automated vehicles.

Ford & QNX Bypass Tier 1 MiddlemenNews & Analysis 10/31/2016 1 commentBlackBerry Limited announced Monday an agreement with Ford Motor Company, under which the automotive giant will expand its use of BlackBerry’s QNX and its security software in Ford vehicles.

U.S. Convenes Chip Study GroupNews & Analysis 10/31/2016 8 commentsThe Obama administration convened top semiconductor executives to make recommendations on what the sector needs to deal with threats from China and a slowing Moore’s law.

Making Lithium-Ion Batteries FireproofNews & Analysis 10/31/2016 Post a commentLithium ion batteries are indispensable as energy source for millions of electronic devices as well as for electromobility. Their drawback: They are not overly safe in that they are easily inflammable – we remember the recent wave of headlines about burning smartphones from Samsung. In a joint research effort, the University of Ferrara and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have found a way to tame the batteries.

Eye-Catching Chronocam Grabs $15M Series BNews & Analysis 10/31/2016 Post a commentChronocam AS (Paris, France) is a startup company that develops vision sensors and systems for machine vision based on an asynchronous pixel sensor technology, has obtained $15 million in Series B funding.

MediaTek May Be Among First with 10nm SoCsNews & Analysis 10/31/2016 Post a commentMediaTek, Qualcomm’s largest rival in the smartphone silicon business, said it aims to be among the chip industry’s first companies with 10nm products on the market starting in the second quarter next year.